Stardew Pride
by Jaconcer
Summary: 12 one-shots, all focusing around bachelors/ettes of Stardew Valley. Happy Pride month all!
1. Red Coal (Alex)

**As long as he can remember, Alex had always felt like he was different from all of the other boys. Like he didn't belong. Now he understands why.**

Alex remembers when he first held the hand of another boy. It was in kindergarten, and their class was on a field trip. They had touched hands and Alex had a funny feeling in his chest. But no one else looked like they felt the same thing he did, so he stayed silent.

(And he remembers coming home to his mother, and quietly telling her everything. She just kissed him on the forehead and told him he was special.)

**xxx**

Later, it becomes uncool to hold hands with another boy. To hug another boy. To be close enough to touch another boy. But none of the other boys seem that angry about it, so he keeps his distance and wants. So what if he wants to hold hands with another boy? All of the girls are always hugging and holding hands when they walk around the field at recess. Why can't boys be like them?

The only way that boys can be physically close other boys is if they get into fights. So that's what Alex does.

(It hurts, to see his mom crying when she notices the bruises and the bloodied knuckles, and he can't help but feel ashamed. He should be better. He has to be better.)

**xxx**

He's eight, and the world is falling apart around him. His mom is dead, and his dad doesn't love him anymore. So he had to go live with his grandparents. He gets angry. At himself. At the other boys in his new school. His grandmother thinks it's because of his mother's death. His grandfather thinks he's immature.

Both and neither of those things are right, and sometimes Alex gets so frustrated he wants to scream. Why is he so different? Why can't he have his mom back?

**xxx**

When Alex is thirteen, his world changes. He's behind the school, a fist slamming down repeatedly on his raised arms. It was his fault, really. He'd goaded the older kid into fighting after school, and now he was paying the price. But he hears a gasp, the suddenly the older boy is off of him, stammering out an apology to the girl in front of them.

Alex knows her. She's in a few of his classes, and they both live in Pelican Town. Her name is Haley.

**xxx**

Haley is the first close friend he's had since moving to Pelican Town. They hang out after school, and at the beach, and in the forest - everywhere, really. His grandparents are relieved that he's found a friend, even if they tease him somewhat about her being a girl.

After that, Alex and Haley stick together. Most of the people in their grade assume that they're in a relationship, but they aren't like that. Or at least, Alex doesn't think they are. Sure, Alex lends Haley his jacket, and Haley hugs him and holds his hand a lot, but they're just friends.

He promises Haley that he'll stop fighting boys behind the school, and she hugs him so tightly he feels like he'll burst.

(Though, he doesn't really stop fighting. It makes him feel good, and he doesn't know how else to deal with what he's feeling.)

**xxx**

Alex is the first person that Haley tells her biggest secret too. It was summer, and they were sitting and talking on the pier, watching the waves crash up against it. They talk about school, and then their lives, and then nothing at all. Haley nudges his shoulder, and says that she likes girls. Alex doesn't really know what to make of that, until Haley explains further. Haley's his friend, he thinks. He'll stand by her no matter what.

(When he tells her this, she clings to him and cries into his shoulder. Her makeup is ruined and on his jacket, but he doesn't say anything.)

**xxx**

Alex gets into gridball near the end of middle school, and finds out that it's better than fighting. It's all he wants to do now, besides hang out with Haley. So he starts to work out, and gets pointers from his coaches and a couple of the older boys on his team. Being strong feels good, especially when his coaches talk about his improvement as a player.

Haley buys him magazines of all kinds, so that he has goals to work towards. He puts his favourite pictures in his locker at the spa in Pelican Town. He doesn't think much of it when he spends a couple of minutes before and after his workout looking at the men in the photos. He wants, but it's just him wanting to look like them. It has to be.

At night, he looks through the magazines that Haley lends him, wondering why he doesn't feel anything towards the girls in the tight clothes, the swimsuits. He knows he's supposed too. All of the other boys at school talk about girls. So why isn't he like them?

Alex wonders if he's broken. Maybe he's just a late-bloomer? That has to be it. He'll like girls eventually. He's got to.

**xxx**

Alex finishes high school with one goal in mind: going pro as a gridball player. He works tirelessly, and gets new magazines with better photos for him to follow. Haley encourages him, and his grandparents don't really seem to care, though that doesn't really bother him much. Life goes on as usual.

But they get someone new in town. He moves into the old farm on the 1st of spring, and Alex is instantly fascinated by him. His name is Marcel, and he's from Zuzu City, and he's cool. Alex has never met someone that he feels this strongly about before, besides Haley. Marcel stops in everyday like clock work with a new story to tell or some cherry jam for him. Alex finds himself looking forwards to his visits, and he catches himself thinking about Marcel more often than not.

It's probably because of how great it is to have someone who likes the same things as he does in town. He doesn't feel alone anymore.

**xxx**

Marcel and Alex hang out a lot. They go to the spa together, and Marcel spots for him. Marcel brings him egg's straight from his farm for his breakfasts. He gives Alex cool rocks that he finds on his mining excursions. Alex shares his knowledge of gridball when they watch games together. Even his grandparents are getting used to his presence in their house.

And Alex doesn't know how to feel about that. Marcel makes him feel different than everyone else. The way he smiles at Alex makes his stomach turn over, and Alex catches glimpses of freckled skin sometimes after they've worked out. It makes him feel lightheaded, and he blames the redness to his face on the exertion.

He's not exactly sure how to feel about this; About how he feels towards Marcel. He didn't get this handbook that everyone else seemed to get on how to deal with your emotions. Alex has never known how to deal with his emotions, at least, not after his mom died. Nothing makes sense with Marcel, and that scares Alex. He's used to things making sense.

**xxx**

Haley is the first to introduce Alex to people online that have gone through similar things like he has. She helps convince his grandparents to get him a computer, and helps him set up an account on the same forum she is in. He reads and talks and learns about everything he can.

He makes friends with Haley's other friends, and they give him words that start to make sense. '_ Touch-starved _'. It fit him, and his world started to make more sense. His fights with the boys at school. Wanting to hold hands and hug like the girls. He was normal.

**xxx**

He finally figured it out when he was chatting with one of Haley's online friends. He had just finished his workout, and was talking to them about their day. Alex sends them a picture, and they ask about the posters in his locker. As he's typing he feels somewhat ashamed. Maybe they thought that it was weird that he had the posters up.

But they didn't say that at all. They asked what he specifically liked about the posters, which made Alex stop and pause for a moment. He liked them because the men in them looked good. He liked them because he wanted to be like them. He liked them because… He liked them.

_Alex, have you considered that you might like guys?_

It felt like his stomach dropped, and he flinched slightly. He liked guys but… He was supposed to like girls. He was supposed to be like everyone else. Alex bit his lip as he replied, and then pressed his head into his arms. His eyes were stinging, but he couldn't quite tell why.

**xxx**

Haley's friend sent his some stories about other men. One's like him. He found new words through those stories, that made even more sense. '_Sexual_ _repression_'. '_Internalized hatred_'. But he understood now. Nothing was wrong with him at all. He just liked boys. That was it.

(When he told Haley, she cried again. Thanked him for trusting her, thanked him for being honest. And then she said she was sorry, which confused Alex. It was his problem. What was she sorry about?)

**xxx**

Alex is nervous. He's never done this before. Marcel's house is quiet at this time, and he hopes Marcel hasn't gone out tonight. He wants to tell him. He needs to tell him. Alex knocked on the door, and immediately after regretted doing it. Marcel was shuffling around behind the door, and Alex swallowed. The door opened, and Marcel was there, a warm smile on his face. Alex stammered out a greeting, before he stepped inside. They sat on the couch together, and Alex finally told him. Everything. What he was feeling, his dad, his mom, meeting Haley. All of it. He had to get it off his chest, had to tell _someone _that he could trust. And Marcel listened.

Marcel watched him with that same, even look and Alex wondered if Marcel hated him for dumping this all of him at once. He would have hated it. Alex looked anywhere but Marcel when he was done. The silence was horrible, and Alex wanted Marcel to say something, anything at all.

"Alex." Marcel whispered, and it took all of his strength to look Marcel in the eyes. He had that slow grin crawling across his face as he scooted closer, his eyelids drooping slightly.

Marcel touched his cheek before he leaned in and _oh _, Alex hadn't realized that a kiss could feel so _good _. Alex sighed and Marcel tilted his head just so he could slip onto Alex's lap. He had never been kissed like this before. (Scratch that. He had never been kissed before.) Marcel was amazing. He pulled back and smiled at Alex, thumb tracing the line of his cheekbone. Alex just gaped up at Marcel, cheeks flushed and eyes wide. He licked his lips once, twice, before he could finally speak.

"Kiss me again."

(They were going to be okay, the two of them.)

_"the red coal_

_is burning between us and we are at its mercy—_

_as if a power is finally dominating_

_the two of us"_

_\- The Red Coal, Gerald Stern_


	2. Marigolds (Penny)

**Penny hates the way her life is, sometimes. After her father's death, and her mother's alcoholism, she craves a way out of the reality of her life. Books offer that for her. And so does the new farmer.**

In their old house, when her father was still around and her mother hadn't succumbed to the temptations of the bottle, it had been peaceful. They had lived on a quiet street, in a quaint suburban neighbourhood. The smell of cinnamon and spices would linger in the air around their house. She could remember curling up with her dad in that green-leather armchair and a book, the rain drizzling down outside as her momma sang along to the radio in the next room. Her father would wink at her and call himself the luckiest man in the world, for having the two of them. Penny had never felt more special than those times.

In the summer and spring, they planted flowers in the pots on their porch. The tulips and spangles were alright, but Penny's favourite were the marigolds, a bright yellow-orange that lasted through most of the spring and summer. Her father would help her carefully water the plants and care for them until they were almost as tall as her. Her days were spent full of sunshine and giddy laughter as her father span her around in their small yard.

It was wonderful, until a man in uniform came and knocked on their door.

**xxx**

Penny hated this. She hated the way her mother shuts herself off from the world, from her. After her father was buried (because Penny was seven and she knew what laid to rest ment) her momma wouldn't speak. It was bad. Really bad. She would have to be strong, like her father. Strong for her momma. Strong for herself.

Penny knows her momma's not right, especially after she sees the empty cans and bottles littering the floor of her momma's room. Her momma's asleep, though, so she tiptoes in and carries as many as she can to the bottle depot down the street. The people behind the counter look worried about how she is bringing the cans and bottles here, but she says that it's her parents. They give her ten dollars, and she buys herself some chocolate on the way home.

Momma's still not awake when she gets home, but that's alright. Penny sits in their green-leather chair by the window as watches as the clouds darken overhead. The frost and rain and cold has basically gone away now. That means she can start to play outside more. Penny frowns.

She wonders if they can plant marigolds this spring.

**xxx**

Penny hates Pelican Town, at first. Her father is gone, and after a while, her momma says that they can't stay in their old house anymore. (It's probably because of the stacks of letters that keep getting piled up on the kitchen counter.)

They pack up their things, and her momma drives her far, far away from their old house. She frowns as they arrive in Pelican Town. There's no new houses, and they all look lived in. Where will they live?

She meets the Mayor and they sleep over at his house while they get settled in. Momma says that the trailer is only temporary. Penny hopes it is.

**xxx**

(Penny finds out that marigolds can't survive in Pelican Town the hard way. She tries so hard to keep them alive, but they die each time she tries. Eventually, Penny gives up. There's no point in trying to bring a piece of her father with her to Pelican Town. She only has her memories, and her photos. Later, she finds that they have no more white vinegar left, and she cries.)

**xxx**

Her momma spends most of her days driving the bus to and from the desert, and her nights at the Saloon. Penny doesn't mind that much. She usually gets a couple of books from the library and reads in her room until her momma gets home. Penny has to hide her books under her covers if her momma comes in. Her momma wouldn't like her to be staying up so late, but she just gets trapped in the books. It's not perfect, but it's livable.

Until the bus breaks down, and her momma is out of a job until the bus can be fixed. Penny goes outside and stays there until it's time for dinner. Her momma is always weird when she comes home, and she always smells like alcohol now. Penny hates it, but she has to help her momma. She has to, for her father.

**xxx**

Penny meets Sam at school, and they instantly become friends. They both like books, and playing outside, and Sam brings her flowers that she puts in her room. He's nice, and she finds herself spending more time with him than in her books. At least her momma doesn't really care about her being friends with him. They grow up together, and even though Sam spends more time with Sebastian and Abigail, he still always finds the time to hang out with her.

The bus is still broken, and her momma still drinks, but she's got purpose now. Penny finishes school and teaches Vincent and Jas at the library. She reads on the days she doesn't teach, head filled with the wonderful stories and adventures of her books. Penny forgets about the marigolds for a long, long time.

**xxx**

Penny sits under her tree with a book on her lap, but her mind is anywhere but her book. She's never exactly been very social, and now she's true that fact. There's a new girl in town, and she's apparently very nice. Penny wants to get to know her. It's always nice to have another girl around town, especially one that's around her age. Sighing, she turns the page of her book. She knows all the words to this one, but it's still nice to sit here and drift off into the story.

She spends a few more minutes like that, before she hears someone approaching her, and glances upwards. It isn't Sam, or Vincent, or Jas, its someone she doesn't know. She's got dark hair and skin, and piercings in her nose and lips. Her leather jacket was old, but it fit her well. Penny smiled nervously up at her, feeling herself flush slightly. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Oh, um…" Penny isn't really sure what to say to this new girl. She hasn't exactly met many new people. "Hello. I'm Penny." The other girls smiles at her, and Penny feels much better about her awkward words.

"Hey. I'm Jesse. I uh, just moved in." Jesse says, jerking her hand in the direction of the old farm. "Mayor said that I'd better introduce myself to everyone so uh," She shrugs, and her hand brushes through her hair. "Nice to meet you." Penny can feel herself hugging her book to her chest, and she almost feels bashful. This girl, Jesse, seems so cool. She's probably more like one of Sebastian or Abigail's friends, especially with all of her piercings. "What're you reading?"

Jesse asks questions about her and her book, and Penny can't wipe the smile off her face. She's so, so nice, and Penny wants to be her friend.

(Or maybe more than that, but Penny knows that she's hoping for too much.)

**xxx**

Jesse stops by everyday, whether or not she's teaching. Vincent and Jas are always up for a bit of fun during school, so they go off on their own while Penny and Jesse chat. It's nice to have a friend who talks to her everyday. Sure, Sam does as well, but it's different, having a friend whose a girl.

In the summer, Jesse brings her a ripe melon from her farm, and Penny almost squeezes the life out of her with how tight her hug is. Penny had loved the melons that she had gotten at the old house, the ones her father had picked out himself. They eat the melon together, and Penny savours the sweet taste on her tongue.

They have fun at the festivals together, standing together on the docks and watching the jellies. They walk through the fair together, and Jesse wins her a stuffed bear in the strength challenge. Penny pretends like she isn't blushing and takes it gracefully.

(The bear sits on her bed, and some nights she curls up with it in the trailer, and remembers that day. It never fails to make her happy, even when her mom has been drinking.)

**xxx**

They sit in the forest together, feet dangling into the pond. Their shoes were behind them, and Jesse's hands are right beside hers. It's summer, and Jesse's been in Pelican Town for over a full year. It's gone by so quickly Penny is almost surprised that it's mid summer again. Almost. Jesse laughs, a clear, melodic sound, before splashing some water at Penny. They end up soaked, and Penny wants to complain about her wet clothes, but she can't find it in her to do it.

Jesse lets her sleep over, that night, and they stay up and talk about everything. Jesse tells Penny about Joja, and how it had drained her of everything she had. Penny tells Jesse about her father, and marigolds, and how her mother can't stand the sight of them. She tells Jesse about how her mother killed the marigolds, and about her books and Sam.

Penny falls asleep feeling closer to Jesse than she feels to anyone, even Sam or her mom.

**xxx**

It's the end of summer, and Penny is trying to pretend that she isn't in love with Jesse. Being in love is hard , she finds out, and it's even harder when its Jesse. Every time she laughs, or smiles, or lays with her hair, Penny can't seem to find enough air. Penny's just plain, a nobody, but Jesse is so much more than that. She's everything that Penny had dreamed about, everything that she had read about in her stories. But she couldn't just say that she was in love with Jesse. Jesse might not feel the same way she does.

Yoba, this is difficult. All she can think about is Jesse. Her books can't even distract her anymore. Penny sighs, and leans back against her tree. There's a flowery smell to the air today, and everything feels hot and heavy. She'd be content to just lay here and sleep, but Penny knows that she was busy. For just a few moments, then.

Someone approached brushed through the grass towards her, and she opened her eyes to see Jesse in front of her. Jesse looks nervous, and she looks like she's trying to hide something from Penny.

"Hey Penny." Jesse stammers out, and Penny smiles up at her, watching as she sits down beside her. Penny still can't see what she's hiding, but she figures that she'll find out soon enough. "I, uh, I got these for you." Jesse pulls out a pulls a bouquet from behind her back, and Penny almost gasps in shock. "They're marigolds. I , uh, thought you might like them." Jesse looks embarrassed, and Penny take them from her carefully. They look just like the ones she used to grow with her father. "I've been kinda, y'know, been meaning to uh, ask you if you'd like to uh, I dunno, like, have a pizza at Gus' tonight? Cause like, I've got this massive crush on you and if you don't feel the same that's totally okay-"

Penny leans over and presses a chaste kiss to Jesse's cheek, which stuns her into silence. "Thank you." She murmurs, feeling her eyes start to sting a little. "They're beautiful." Jesse is still looking at her with that awestruck look on her face, and Penny can feel her cheeks heating up. "I'd love to." She gives Jesse a shy smile, and tries not to cry.

(Later, she does, because she had forgotten about how much she had loved marigolds. Jesse wipes her tears away and kisses her, and Penny feels like she's dreaming.)

**xxx**

On the day of their wedding, Penny holds a bouquet of marigolds, the orange-yellow flowers matching perfectly with the one's in Jesse's hair. Jesse beams when she arrives in front of her, and Penny knows that her life will only get better from here.

(They name their first child Mary, and Penny and Jesse spend every moment they can showing her the wonders of flowers. Her favourite are marigolds too.)

* * *

**Just a note, white vinegar kills plants almost instantly when it's used. Good for weeds, but not for the reason it's used here.**


End file.
